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Original poster

Living with road noise

37 replies

crimsonlake · 29/06/2018 17:55

Recently bought a new house, on a road which although is not a main one it turns out it is a cut through and is much busier than I ever imagined.
Yes, I should have visited at several times of the day, but friend's who live nearby said it simply had its busier times, these now appear to last much of the day.
It is a good sized property which suited my budget and I did not want to be hemmed in by other neighbours, it actually has quite a nice outlook to the front which is fields.
I do not think my double glazing is the best and I cannot afford to replace it. The living room is in the front and so is my bedroom, I used to love sleeping with the windows open but now that is impossible.
How do others cope, do you get used it?

OP posts:
millymae · 29/06/2018 19:22

If my experience is anything to go on I think you will get used to it. I was brought up in a house on a road that sounds similar to yours and my bedroom was at the front of the house.
When I moved in with DP we lived in a flat overlooking one of the main routes into the city and maybe because I was already used to it, the noise of the constant traffic, even with the windows slightly open, never bothered me at all. It was the road lighting that caused us problems initially but we solved that with top quality blackout blinds.
We have friends that live in a town on the flight path to Manchester Airport and when we visit I’m constantly looking up at the planes that seem to be almost within touching distance as they come in to land. They and everyone else who lives there don’t appear to notice them at all presumably because they are such a regular occurrence they’ve become immune to the sound.

formerbabe · 29/06/2018 19:24

No...I didn't get used to it! Lived on a main road...could hear traffic all the time from every room. I'm very sensitive to noise though.

KarinVogel · 29/06/2018 19:28

We back onto a very busy A road and the lorries thunder down the road at all hours of the day. We are perhaps only about 25 foot away from the side of the road if we stand at our back door. We do have double glazing but even with windows open it still not as noisy as you would think. And yes to a large extent we have got used to it more over time but even visitors dont really notice or comment on the road noise at all.

tentative3 · 29/06/2018 19:28

We have a similar issue, combined with a cobbled street and a listed property in which we cannot install double glazing. We have a fan in this weather and a white noise machine for other times of the year, it helps us sleep enormously.

catandpanda · 29/06/2018 19:39

We don't live by a main road but by a pub and the noise is difficult - we've moved one bedroom to the back and that helps. Husband is half deaf so he's fine. I think regular low level noise you can get used to though would consider swapping rooms round in time, friend on main road has kitchen at the front, living room overlooking garden which works for quiet and she can watch kids in garden.

ShellsBells76 · 29/06/2018 19:45

We live in a very similar house and the noise has got worse since we moved here 10 years ago as they have changed the layout of our town centre so now so many people cut down our road to avoid the town.

To be honest we are now thinking about moving, I love having the windows open at night and it's ridiculous, my youngest daughter has the front bedroom and we shut her window and have a fan in her room, I'm happy with a fan but DH hates the noise of fans so it's hard.

Singlenotsingle · 29/06/2018 19:51

My Ds and Dil had a house in a very busy road but even though they had double glazing, you could still hear road noise in the back garden. I was worried about the road fumes as they had a baby. Two years later, they moved to a quiet road in a country village.

Travellinghopefully2018 · 29/06/2018 19:56

We live on a fairly busy road for cars but not lorries. We have our bedroom at the back although kids are at the front. We don’t have windows at the front open much as a result but that’s not usually a problem, only in this weather! I have got used to it and even find that it helps me gauge what time of day it is - I know I’ve over slept if traffic is busy! My main issue with it is child safety, I worry about the kids running out into traffic.

Singlenotsingle · 29/06/2018 20:00

travelling and the diesel/petrol fumes? That was my main worry.

JT05 · 29/06/2018 20:01

I used to live on the Heathrow flight path nice and noisy! Then moved to the edge of another City. The road didn’t have any traffic and was strangely quite.
I’ve now moved to the centre of a busy village, so lots of road noise, tractors etc.
I find it comforting, but we sleep at the back of the house

Original poster
crimsonlake · 29/06/2018 20:36

I might try the white noise. It is very quiet eventually late at night but starts up relatively early in the morning. I like to watch programmes on my lap top at night and find myself having to rewind as something always seems to pass in the important bits! On another road close by they have lots of speed bumps, as this is a very long road traffic really does speed by and I am wondering if it is even worse when traffic has to speed up and then slow down. In fact a visiting friend of mine had their wing mirror damaged by a speeding car and they had even pulled over quite well. Luckily I have off road parking for myself but sometimes park on the road if visitors are uneasy about it.
I was detached for 12 years living in a very quite street with a large private garden, now I am semi detached and can hear the neighbours quite a lot also, I know I have been spoilt previously. I guess that is a whole other thread lol. So many things to get used to as well as a new area.

OP posts:
mselastic · 29/06/2018 20:39

I was told it is like living by the sea- a constant low level noise which has peaks and troughs.

Apparently, you do get used to it and it is better than kids playing outside!

Pippylou · 29/06/2018 20:41

Change the double-glazing just in the one room it bothers you the most.

I've always hated road noise but where I am now is noisy but I actually have got used to it. I sometimes run an air purifier and that helps too, due to the white noise.

HystericalDinosaur · 29/06/2018 22:08

Similar thing here. If it helps, we did visit many times at different times of the day and didn’t clock how busy the road is.

So far, I think I am getting used to it except when a car blares music, that’s what really bugs me. Why isn’t it illegal to blare it so loudly at 1am???

Original poster
crimsonlake · 29/06/2018 22:18

Driving round so many houses are on busy roads and I think to myself so many people must not mind....Nearby their are some very expensive properties even closer to the road and some lovely ones being built right on the roadside. Seems it does not put people off buying or selling. If I had the money I certainly would not choose to be near or on a busy road.
I agree at least I do not have children playing in the street, but then I do have noise traffic outside and children in the back. Neighbours have a huge trampoline right next to and overlooking my patio! Not that I have anything against children but I work as a supply teacher and do like to get away from them when I come home.

OP posts:
Alex3101 · 29/06/2018 22:25

I'd say you get used to it.
Our house now is on a busy road, buses and cars with a hospital just round the corner. The bedroom is at the front of the house, it's a terrace so we are right on the road. I don't notice the noise at all now.
I've also lived right under the flight path of Heathrow and got used to the planes pretty quickly, every now and then the first plane of the morning would wake me but I'd go back to sleep.
We have the windows open all the time.

Blankscreen · 29/06/2018 22:54

We live about 200m from a main road and it does my head in.

It's got so much worse since we moved in and I feel myself getting more and more affected by it.

It seems to go all night.

We cannot wait to move. Waiting to get Ds into the senior school we want and then we are off.

Blankscreen · 29/06/2018 22:55

I wear earplugs to help.

Original poster
crimsonlake · 29/06/2018 22:58

Resorting to ear plugs seems a good idea, though hate the fact I may have to end up doing that.

OP posts:
SpongeBobGrannyPants · 29/06/2018 23:05

I think the best (only) way is to replace windows and get triple glazing. But you'll probably get used to it to some extent in the meantime.

SpongeBobGrannyPants · 29/06/2018 23:09

Headphones for watching stuff on laptop at night might be an idea too.

Original poster
crimsonlake · 29/06/2018 23:46

Love the headphones idea. I downsized following divorce, replacing the double glazing is not within my budget unfortunately.

OP posts:
Bimbop5 · 30/06/2018 05:14

Definitely get a white noise machine or a fan, it will help a lot.

TheLastNigel · 30/06/2018 05:50

I live on a village high st, very busy at rush hours. Our house is listed so we can't double glaze and the windows we have are useless at noise reduction as the frames are so gappy (we are having them refurbished).
I have got used to it a bit but it does annoy me that if I have my window open sometimes I can't hear the TV-if a bus goes by or whatever.
Fortunately it's fairly quiet at night (bar the church bells chiming the hour-great fun for the insomniac),plus my kids sleep like logs anyway! Rush hour doesn't bother me as e are usually getting ready or out anyway.

SpongeBobGrannyPants · 30/06/2018 08:08

I know not an option right now, but you could do windows one by one as and when you can afford them (my dad's suggested we take this approach for some reno work we're doing). Less daunting and expensive than a full house replacement at once.

He did say triple glazing is better than double for noise reduction though (he works in the construction trade).